104 



FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



with suitable effect except 1))' one who has Dbtained impres- 

 sions at Krst hand on the spot Ijy actual observation. A 

 sti-iking example of this occurs where, perhaps, one might 

 least expect it, in Coleridge's noble " H}-mn Ijefore Sunrise," 

 wherein the peculiar characteristics of Alpine vegetation are 

 made to contribute to the sublime force of the argument. 

 The poet had in mind the gentian more particularly j but it 

 matters not what flowers were in his thoughts «-hen he 

 wrote thus : — 



"Yc ice-falls, ye that from the mountain's l)row 

 Ailown enormous ravine.y slope amain — 



"WHio hade the sun 

 Clothe you with rainbows 'i Who \\-ith living flowers 

 Of loveliest blue spread garlands at your feet r 



God ! let the torrents, like a shout of nations, 



Answer ! and let the ice-plains echo, God '. 



God ! sing-, ye meadow-streams, witli gladsome voice ! 



Ye pine-groves, with j'our soft and soul-like sounds ! 



And they too have a voice, yon piles of snow, 



And in their periloiis faU shall thunder, God ! 



Y'e living flowers that skirt the eternal frost, 

 Y''e wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest, 

 Y^e eagles, playmates of the mciuntain .storm, 

 Y^e lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds, 

 Ye signs and wonders of the elements, 

 TJttei" forth, God! and fill the hills «ith praise," 



